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This month, the whole world is celebrating 30 years of Mario, only the most famous video game character of all time. It’s been a long time since the Italian plumber’s humble beginnings as Jumpman, and Nintendo is pulling out all the stops to make this anniversary year as special as possible for long-time gamers who got their start playing as starry-eyed kids back in the 8-bit era.

To continue the festivities, we’d like to share with you this nifty video tribute which tracks the evolution of Mario over the past three decades of video gaming history. Prepare yourselves for a nostalgic trip down memory lane!

September 13, 1985 will forever remain in the minds of video game enthusiasts as the day that Super Mario Brothers for the Famicon (known overseas as the NES) went on sale in Japan. Since then, Mario has appeared in over 200 games as either the protagonist or in supporting or cameo roles.

Enter online news aggregator Digg, who posted their own tribute to 30 years of Mario late last week. The following is Digg’s YouTube video description:

“In honor of Super Mario Bros.’s 30th birthday, here’s the evolution of the plumber who started it all. Check out how much he’s changed over the years, and discover a few of his more obscure titles.”

The video chronologically tracks a large number of the games in which Mario has appeared since his debut, although as several YouTube commenters have pointed out, certain titles have been omitted for brevity. At four minutes and 33 seconds in length, the video only has time to spend a couple of seconds displaying snippets of each individual game.

Give the video a whirl then scroll down for a fun piece of Mario trivia!

Here are just a few screenshots of some of Mario’s most famous and classic appearances:

▼ Where it all began

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▼ We’ve come full circle with this month’s Super Mario Maker!

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Well, did the video bring back childhood memories of long hours spent playing some long-forgotten games?

By the way, try searching Google for Super Mario Brothers in either English or Japanese–you’ll see a flashing “? Block” icon located on the far right side of the screen. What happens when you click on it…?

Source: Kotaku Japan
Images: YouTube/Digg